This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 819,605, filed on Jan. 17, 1986 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,953. U.S. application No. 819,605 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application No. 703,529 filed on Feb. 20, 1985, now abandoned.
The present invention relates to a method for electronically and manually creating graphics, images or creative designs on a fabric. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of creating personalized graphics, images or other creative designs using an electronic device such as a personal computer or photocopier and thereafter transferring those graphics, images or designs to a fabric such as a tee shirt or the like.
In recent years, tee shirts with a variety of designs thereon have become very popular. A large number of tee shirts are sold with pre-printed designs to suit the various tastes of consumers. In addition, many customized tee shirt parlors have appeared, particularly in resort areas, which permit customers to select designs of their choice. Processes have also been proposed for permitting customers to create their own designs on transfer sheets for application to tee shirts by use of a conventional iron, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,358, issued Sept. 23, 1980, to the present inventor.
Simultaneous with the development of the tee shirt rage, there is a growing popularity for equipment and processes for creating personalized graphics or designs. Many products are available for permitting such graphics or designs to be created, including video cameras; keyboards, "mice", joysticks, light pens or other input devices used with personal computers; and electronic photocopier machines.
Printers have conventionally used two alternative methods for creating designs for iron-on transfers. However, neither method has been effective in the creation of personalized designs because of both the cost associated with the method or the poor image reproduction.
First, many iron-on transfer designs are made with conventional type printing presses. Such methods include litho, offset and screen printing. These methods are impracticable because of the high cost associated with creation of the design unless several transfers are created. Thus, this method is ill-suited for creating unique personalized designs.
Second, some personalized iron-on transfers are created using sublimation ribbons to replace standard ribbons used with dox matrix impact printers. However, this method produces a low quality image.